"Mary, merry, marry"is one of the standard dialect differential things. There are all sorts of variations.

One survey of Americans found that

•all 3 are the same (56.88%)•all 3 are different (17.34%)•Mary and merry are the same; marry is different (8.97%)•merry and marry are the same; Mary is different (0.96%)•Mary and marry are the same; merry is different (15.84%)

Here is one suggestion of how it sounds when you pronounce them differently

Exactly. Which is why its not quite the same as a silent letter. I find it very interesting as most true silent letters are universal (ie "knife") but the L in solder obviously isn't. Are there any Brits online who can tell me how you guys say it?

I forgot to add--when Mary, marry and merry are pronounced the same, they all sound like "merry" as pronounced by those who differentiate them.

They all sound like hairy to me.

Then again, pull and pool, bowl and bull, and fool and full all sound like their partners to me. If I try to pronounce them differently, it sounds very awkward to me, but I can tell when other people differentiate between them!

Born in Boston, raised in southern New Hampshire and have lived in the Albany, N.Y., area most of the past 30 years. I hear no difference between Don and Dawn or cot and caught. Sauna rhymes with Donna. First time I heard the sau-as-in-sauerkraut pronunciation was from a Minnesotan.

Mary, merry and marry definitely sound different to me.

I grew up hearing the seventh day of the week pronounced "Sad-dee" by both my parents. They didn't mangle the other days quite so much, but they definitely ended in "dee" rather than "day." Mom is Boston born and raised. Dad was born in Maine and raised in Boston.

And Honeybee, the city in Egypt is "KIE-ro", the city in Illinois (btw, "ill-in-OY") is KAY-roe .

Oh, I know about the city in Egypt's pronunciation--that's why I said that the town in Illinois (and yes, I know 'there is no noise in Illinois') might be a bit head-explody for some. I remember being a child and seeing the place names on the signs, and pronouncing them like the Austrian Vienna and Egyptian Cairo and getting corrected (this would've been when I was in second or third grade, since I didn't get glasses until second grade and didn't read signs until after I had glasses).

Sauna rhymes with Donna. First time I heard the sau-as-in-sauerkraut pronunciation was from a Minnesotan.

Oh dear. The sau in sauerkraut is not the same to me as the sau in sauna. I also just realised when I typed SAW-na before that we pronounce saw differently as well. So 3rd times the charm - Sor-na but without the strong US 'R'

My Dad's minister was an opera singer here in Canada. She was taking some classes in London, England on diction. The instructor went around the room, asking everyone to introduce themselves. She introduced herself as Dawn, pronounced Don. The instructor corrected her to something like Dahwn. She just couldn't get it 'right'. When the did the same exercise the next time they met and they got to her, she said her name was Elizabeth.

Interesting. I say Don and Dawn differently. Dawn has a deeper sound and is a bit more drawn out.

"Mary, merry, marry"is one of the standard dialect differential things. There are all sorts of variations.

One survey of Americans found that

•all 3 are the same (56.88%)•all 3 are different (17.34%)•Mary and merry are the same; marry is different (8.97%)•merry and marry are the same; Mary is different (0.96%)•Mary and marry are the same; merry is different (15.84%)

Here is one suggestion of how it sounds when you pronounce them differently

And Honeybee, the city in Egypt is "KIE-ro", the city in Illinois (btw, "ill-in-OY") is KAY-roe .

Oh, I know about the city in Egypt's pronunciation--that's why I said that the town in Illinois (and yes, I know 'there is no noise in Illinois') might be a bit head-explody for some. I remember being a child and seeing the place names on the signs, and pronouncing them like the Austrian Vienna and Egyptian Cairo and getting corrected (this would've been when I was in second or third grade, since I didn't get glasses until second grade and didn't read signs until after I had glasses).

There is a Cairo, Georgia. It's also said, "Kay-roe." Imagine it drawn out in a deep Georgian accent (my X's relatives lived in GA).

One of the ones that used to bug me--portrait. In the city I used to live in, there was this photo finishing place that ran ads on TV for their "portrait service". Now, I have always pronounced and heard it pronounced as "POOR-trit" According to the dictionary, there is also a correct pronunciation that sounds more like "POOR-trait" (note that the emphasis stays on that first syllable?). This fellow, however, pronounced it "poor-TRAIT" about seven times in thirty seconds.

On pronunciations of place names that might want to make your head explode--not too terribly far from where I live, there are towns named Cairo and Vienna--KAY-ro (like the corn syrup brand) and VIE-an-na (like vie and the name Anna put together), respectively.

pore-trit.

Logged

I've never knitted anything I could recognize when it was finished. Actually, I've never finished anything, much to my family's relief.